NCCU police chief out of a job

Timothy Bellamy, who was recently charged with drunken driving, is no longer employed at N.C. Central, the university said Friday.

Debra Saunders-White, chancellor at NC Central University (right) speaks to a crowd of over 70 people Tuesday Sept. 24, 2013 at the school's communication building. She and police chief, Timothy Bellamy gave information about campus police officers shooting an armed gunman over night near the School of Education.
cliddy@newsobserver.com

Timothy Bellamy, facing a DWI charge, is out as police chief at N.C. Central University.

The university sent out a one-sentence statement Friday, saying Bellamy was no longer employed at NCCU.

Bellamy was arrested Aug. 2 by a state trooper at a license checkpoint in Greensboro and charged with driving while impaired, according to The Associated Press. The report said Bellamy had a blood alcohol level of 0.09 percent. North Carolina’s legal limit for impairment is 0.08 percent.

Bellamy had been suspended with pay after the arrest. University officials did not specify a reason for his departure Friday.

He had headed the NCCU campus police force since 2012 after nearly three decades at the Greensboro Police Department. He was the chief in Greensboro before retiring in 2010.

NCCU’s police department was in the news in September 2013 for a shooting involving officers. Three NCCU officers shot at a man who officials said had twice fired at them in a confrontation on campus. The man, Tracy Daquan Bost of Charlotte, died.

Officers had cornered the man, who got off a city bus after a suspected burglary and robbery between downtown Durham and the NCCU campus, authorities said.

After the incident, NCCU Chancellor Debra Saunders-White held a community meeting and praised the NCCU police for their “responsiveness and vigilance in keeping our campus safe.”